MADISON, Wis. — The first time Charlie Luken attended a meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors in 1984, Cincinnati City Council had just elected Mr. Luken its third mayor in four years.

        “They just laughed at me,” Mr. Luken said. “Historically, there's been this issue with Cincinnati's mayoralty that has made it ineffective.”

        By the time he leaves the conference's annual meeting on Monday, Mr. Luken hopes he will have erased much of that history. Armed with a charter amendment that gives him stronger powers than Cincinnati mayors have enjoyed in 76 years, Mr. Luken wants Cincinnati's mayor to have national clout.

        “We can't simply sit on the sidelines, like we did for decades,” Mr. Luken said. This weekend, he hopes to organize Ohio mayors into a more cohesive lobbying group in Columbus, put race relations at the forefront of the conference's agenda, and even get elected to its elite advisory board. In his advisory board campaign pitch to his cohorts around the county, Mr. Luken acknowledged that Cincinnati has not been a high-profile participant in the 660-member organization.

        In a June 7 letter to mayors, Mr. Luken said he hoped Cincinnati's story could be valuable to other cities. “In April, we suffered riots, and immediately after began a

        process that would heal our city, improve our Police Department, and generate unprecedented community involvement. The process is succeeding by almost all accounts, and it is a model worthy of national attention,” he said.

        But even while he tries to raise Cincinnati's profile in the conference and thereby boost the city's image, he acknowledges that many strong mayors still see Cincinnati's mayor as having less muscle than its city manager.

        At an orientation Friday morning for new mayors — and mayors new to the organization — the conference's executive director insisted that all mayors are treated equally by the organization.

        “We don't care if you're the weak mayor or the strong mayor in this organization,” Director J. Thomas Cochran said. “You're the mayor.”

        Mr. Luken knows that's not true. No sooner had he picked up his luggage at the Dane County Regional Airport that morning than he was drawn into a five-minute conversation with Knoxville, Tenn., Mayor Victor Ashe, explaining what the Cincinnati mayor's new powers were. Yes, he said, he could veto ordinances and organize City Council. No, he couldn't fire the city manager without City Council's consent.

        “I wouldn't want to be mayor if I had your job,” Mr. Ashe concluded. He's not alone.

        “It's pretty well understood here that Cincinnati has a different system,” said Akron Mayor Donald L. Plusquellic, a 17-year veteran of the conference of mayors and one of its most influential members. “When a mayor is really a mayor, and they have responsibilities and have to make tough decisions about hiring and firing and providing city services, the rest of us have a recognition and a respect for that.”

        Still, Mr. Plusquellic said, Cincinnati's involvement in the conference is encouraging. “When you talk to mayors who've lived through different situations, you learn from that,” he said. “Charlie Luken probably has some stories to tell about race relations and dealing with unrest and getting the Police Department under control.”

        While many mayors brought large entourages of cabinet members, spokespeople, security details and council members, Mr. Luken traveled light, bringing only a single aide.

        This weekend's trip to Madison is just the second out-of-town trip he's taken since being elected the “stronger” mayor.

        Part of Mr. Luken's newfound interest in the conference is practical: Cincinnati spends about $13,000 a year in dues to the conference (an amount determined by its population), and the city should get its money's worth. Mr. Plusquellic said most of the real work of the organization takes place in corridors and in the corners of committee rooms.

        Coming out of a session on the new organizational structure of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security — a session he chaired — conference president and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino (lately of Boston 24/7 fame) exclaimed in his New England accent: “How boring was that!”

        Mr. Luken didn't disagree. “Some of them are rather dull,” he said. “They're worse than City Council committee meetings.”

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